Bandit Country: The IRA and South Armagh

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South Armagh, for those not in the know, is a rural location which saw a decades long battle between the PIRA and the British Army who, depending on your point of view, were either invaders continuing an imperialist agenda or people simple defending their fellow countrymen. Sniper at Work” road signs with silhouettes of gunmen are gone and an occasional police car patrols a town where soldiers and police only ever travelled by helicopter for fear of being blown up by covert bombs. Toby Harnden came to my attention with his timely must read about 9-11 and the US response with the untold tale of Mike Spann and his team in First Casualty. In the media blitz he mentioned writing a long out of print book called Bandit Country. Based on the quality of First Casualty, I knew this would be a solid story with in depth interviews of as many people on both sides.

Some of the snipers were eventually caught, but during that period when they weren’t caught it was psychologically very difficult for police officers to go out and patrol,” Mains adds.

Andrew is a former journalist who has always had a love of writing and a passion for reading good thrillers. Now he has finally put the two interests together. While there is a police presence – “they would regularly be up at the church with speed guns” – it’s unlike other areas, he says.

Former Armagh footballer Oisín McConville on the terrace of the Crossmaglen Rangers pitch which is overlooked by the still heavily fortified police station. Photograph: Stephen Davison At times an uncomfortable read at times but one which in many ways is fascinating...it tells the tale of the modern troubles from the period of the seventies through to a then shaky peace deal as we entered the millennium.

You could read this as a stand alone, it would work well I think, but I would definitely recommend reading the other books in the series. They give a great deal of information about Joe and importantly show his tenacious character. There’s no way in 1986 you could have foreseen where we are now because it was helicopters, it was the army, it was horrible, people were getting killed. From a point of history it is interesting to read how troubled this period was and how much things seem to have moved on...I think a further book must exist somewhere which may shine a light on how far divisions have been healed as it seems incredulous to think that things are now chunky dory as the separations between community's ran deep at times through the period recorded.